


how they found melog

by red_rook



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Colombian Rogelio, Doctor Adora, F/F, Korean-Filipina Glimmer, Lawyer Catra, Puerto Rican Catra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_rook/pseuds/red_rook
Summary: Recently engaged and eager to start their life together, Catra and Adora are figuring out the rest of their lives, with plenty of bumps along the road. One of those bumps ends up being a cat-shaped bump named Melog.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 235





	1. Chapter 1

“Are you busy?”

Adora didn’t hear the question at first, so engrossed was she in her new copy of  _ Breath of the Wild _ , and her fiance e had to repeat the question before she looked up. Catra was leaning over Adora’s controller in a way that makes the beautiful intricate necklace Adora had bought her a year ago hang loosely off her slender brown neck. Her ponytail was slung casually over a shoulder, loose wavy curls brushing gently against one of the simple suit jackets Catra wears to work every day. 

(They drive Adora crazy. Something about women in suits- specifically, Catra in a suit- makes her unable to string two coherent sentences together.)

“Uh. Nooo...?” Adora drew out the last syllable, equally tempted to pull her ridiculously gorgeous fiance e into a kiss as well as mindful of her duty to eliminate the camp of Bokoblins she’s been strategizing over for a while now. 

Catra smirked, her dark matte lipstick making her lips pop against the white of her teeth. “Good. I certainly hope I’m not distracting you from your game by leaving.”

“Do you have to leave?” Adora whined, well aware of how petulant she sounded as well as the immense satisfaction Catra will receive by hearing how openly Adora wanted her. Their new living arrangement had been difficult to get used to for both of them. They were both ambitious to a fault- a ‘match made in hell’, as Glimmer so affectionately called them- but they’d both known Catra would get a steady job first. Adora had just barely graduated medical school and was now writing applications for residency. Sneaky lawyers and their sneaky far shorter length of required education. 

“I do, Doctor Adora,” said Catra, putting a light playful emphasis on the word  _ Doctor _ . “Someone’s got to pay for the absolutely fabulous wedding we’re going to have.”

“And the rent.”

“And the tropical paradise we’ll fly all my cool, awesome friends and all your lame, loser friends to when we get married.”

“They’re your lame, loser friends too.” They really were now. It had taken some of Adora’s friends quite a lot longer to come around, but it had been a while since Catra had lashed out defensively at any of them. For Catra, that was tremendous progress, considering how she’d used to be. As for some of her more aggressive friends, there had been no major issues in years. Not since the pie incident. But they didn’t talk about the pie incident.

“They certainly will be after we get absolutely trashed in the Bahamas for a weekend after the reception and ceremony, and play beach games until you and Scorpia get your pasty asses turned lobster red.”

“Oh, it’s going to be the Bahamas now? What happened to us going all the way to Okinawa?”

Catra sniffed delicately, affecting the air of some of her Ivy League educated colleagues that had come from old money. “I felt peckish.”

“You know,” Adora began, only half-seriously, “if you really wanted a destination wedding, we could always go to Ireland. I have extended family there. They could help arrange places to stay and help us organize.”

“I’d rather marry you in a dumpster than marry you in the Land of Gingers. Don’t you know they have no souls? We’ll be eaten in our sleep.”

“I’ve met plenty of nice redheaded people,” Adora protested, grinning.

“Are you really trying to argue with a lawyer now? You know you’ll lose, right?” 

“Not for lack of trying, though,” Adora shot back. Laughing, Catra leaned in for a kiss, and it’s all Adora needs to forget all about her game. When they pull apart, Adora notices with mild chagrin the  _ Game Over _ screen she is now faced with.

“Oops.” Catra’s grin was devilish. “I ruined your game.” Something about the way she says the word  _ ruined _ is as intoxicating as a bottle of port and just as sweet. It made Adora want to rip off that suit jacket and the smart business blouse beneath and-

“Save your bedroom eyes for after work, you perv.” Catra pulled away, and Adora felt the loss of her closeness as acutely a douse of icy water. “I’ll be late if you hold me up any longer, you know. Then how will we pay for the destination wedding?” 

“I always find a way. You know me.”

“Dumbass.” Catra had one foot out the door already.

“I love you!” 

“Love you too, dumbass.” And just like that, the best thing that had ever happened to Adora was gone for yet another agonizing nine Catra-less hours. 

She had no interest in her game now. She couldn’t imagine ever finding it more interesting or worthy of her time than Catra was. Fuck, if she hadn’t gotten up early to play  _ Breath of the Wild _ , they might have had ten more minutes of cuddling. Or maybe even morning sex. How long had it been since they’d had morning sex? Her choice to get on the Switch instead seemed like a colossal wrongdoing to her now in comparison.  _ Fuck. _

Suddenly very irritated with herself, Adora sprang to her feet and changed into workout clothing. Perfuma only worked at the flower shop she ran three days a week- her trust fund baby girlfriend, Scorpia, ensured that neither needed to work any harder than they ever wanted to. If today was a Tuesday, which Adora was reasonably certain it was, Perfuma would be off work and they could go on a morning jog together. Out of all of Adora’s acquaintances, only Perfuma was affable enough to agree to such a thing; Catra would always mime puking whenever Adora suggested it, and Glimmer and Bow always found polite excuses not to go on morning jogs with her. 

“It’ll be your undoing, you know,” Adora had told Catra loftily once. “You go to the gym all the time with Scorpia or Glimmer but all you do is weight training. You need cardio to balance it out.”

“Oh, you want cardio?” Catra had retorted instantly, her mismatched eyes growing dark and her lips parting for a hungry kiss that had very enthusiastically turned into more. Luckily for them, nobody else had been in the restaurant bathroom.

Flushing at the thought of the rest of the memory, Adora made herself a simple breakfast. The two of them had gotten into the routine of Adora preparing granola and yoghurt and dried fruit for Catra the night before, so Catra could bring it with her to work and snack on it as she pleased until lunchtime. Her fiance e had never particularly believed in the power of breakfast, and no cajoling from Adora over the years had managed to change that. The granola-fruit-yoghurt ensemble was the maximum amount of food Catra let Adora prepare for her, and Adora took to the task with relish every night. 

Adora, on the other hand, ate every meal of the day heartily. So it was, as with every morning, that she found herself scrambling two eggs along with avocado toast-  _ the whitest thing about you _ , as Catra always cracked- plus a bowl of blueberries and strawberries. Everything disappeared within moments. After fixing her ponytail and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she washed up, filled her water bottle, yanked on leggings, and slipped into her old beat-up sneakers to go out the door. Catra, of course, had taken their car to work, which meant a twenty minute walk to Perfuma and Scorpia’s place. This she didn’t mind in the slightest. Walks took her mind off the stress of applications and the stress of the anticipated grueling residency and the stress of Catra having to support her broke ass for four more years and the stress of-

She let out a deep breath through her nose.  _ Happy thoughts, Adora. _ She pushed down the guilt gnawing at her stomach and walked on. The suburbs that most of her and Catra’s friends lived in lay at the outskirts of a huge city, which meant that everything they could possibly need was generally accessible. This had always been a must for Catra, who reminded Adora every chance she got that if ‘that little shop next to the ugly strip mall that sells the only good arepas I’ve eaten in years were to close I’d quit my job instantly and move somewhere that sells edible ones’. Glimmer said similar things about the Asian market that sold what was reportedly the only kimchi worth eating within a hundred mile radius. 

Adora hadn’t understood what Glimmer had really meant until Perfuma had one day presented a jar of ‘homemade kimchi’ at a cookout that Spinnerella and Netossa had organized. It had been white, sour, and entirely unspicy. Nobody had eaten more than a bite of it, and some spat what they did eat surreptitiously into their napkins.

Adora was still reminiscing about the look on Catra’s face when Adora had fed her a spoonful of the faux kimchi when she realized she’d reached Perfuma and Scorpia’s place. It was a small house that didn’t reflect their net worth in the slightest, but both women had always been the humble sort. Not like Catra, who had bought a scarlet BMW the second she’d been able to fit it into her budget. 

“I’m a great driver, you know,” Catra had boasted after Adora’s jaw had dropped once she’d seen her girlfriend-at-the-time coming back from the dealership. “This baby is not going to get a single scratch.” It had taken all of three days for the beautiful sleek red paint to get scratched when Catra had unwisely squeezed into a parking space in the lot next to her law firm, sandwiched between a jeep and a car that had been terribly parked. 

Adora knocked on their door, which Perfuma had attached a few well-preserved begonias to. It was opened seconds later by a hugely smiling Scorpia, who gave her a bone-crushing hug. 

“Hey, Adora! What’s up? How’s it going?” Adora paused, mouth in between  _ Not much _ and  _ Good _ until Scorpia continued. “Are you looking for Perfuma? She isn’t here; she’s working four days at her flower shop now.” Scorpia shone whenever she talked about her girlfriend. 

“Oh… I was looking for her, yeah. I wanted to go on a morning jog.” Scorpia beamed at that. It was really quite nice that Adora and Scorpia got along these days, considering that Scorpia had disliked Adora for a while when she’d had her fruitless crush on Catra. Though her now perpetually-bruised ribs might beg to differ.

“Well, you can come and hang out here with me if you want!” Then Scorpia froze. “Um… actually…. the house is a mess at the moment. Why don’t we, uh….”

“Go on a morning jog together?” Adora uses her big hopeful puppy eyes that never failed to work on Catra.

Scorpia laughed. “Adora, you’re great and I like you a lot as a friend, but morning jogs are nobody’s thing. Why don’t we go lift weights at the gym instead? I’ve been meaning to have someone who isn’t Catra spot me. She always gets distracted.”

“Distracted by who?” Adora asked, a spark of jealousy instantly flashing through her.

“You, silly!” Scorpia shook her head good-naturedly. “She keeps texting you at the gym.”

“Oh,” Adora said, scratching her head guiltily. She hated the idea, to be honest. She knew that Scorpia could out-lift her easily, which irked the competitive side of Adora just a little too much. Adora was evenly matched with Bow, which was why he and Glimmer had become her gym buddies. Scorpia, on the other hand, had biceps the size of Adora’s thighs.

Scorpia’s face fell immediately upon seeing Adora’s hesitation. “Sorry, sorry. You probably have friends you go with, right? It’s alright. We can do something else-”

“No, no, no!” Adora’s face turned red. Shit, she felt horrible for making Scorpia look so sad: Scorpia was like the biggest, cuddliest teddy bear. “Let’s go! Sounds like a great idea! Don’t be sorry, there’s nothing to be sorry about!”

Scorpia’s eyes were big and hopeful. “So you want to come with me?”

“Yeah. Absolutely. Come on, let’s do this!”

It took several more rounds of reassurances before Scorpia was finally convinced that Adora genuinely wanted to spend time with her, but soon enough they were in Scorpia’s car, with Scorpia belting Adele classics. She was, admittedly, quite good, and even if she weren’t Adora would have never complained. She didn’t want to see Scorpia cry; her expressions of sadness and disappointment were more than enough for her to handle. 

But halfway through  _ Someone Like You _ , she got a call from Catra, and had to twist her body in the front seat so that as much of her body was shielding her phone from the blasting music and Scorpia’s dulcet tones.

“Hey, babe,” Adora muttered into the phone.

“Don't call me babe,” came Catra’s raspy voice as a response, almost a hiss of irritation. “I’m not in the mood. I got chewed out by that bitchy superior I hate.”

“Ms. Weaver?” Adora asked, as Scorpia crooned “ _ I had hoped you would see my face…” _

“Duh! Who the hell is singing?” Catra retorted harshly.

“It’s-”

“ _ Never mind, I’ll find-” _

“Is that  _ Scorpia? _ ” Catra asked incredulously.

“ _ SOMEONE LIKE YOUUUUUUUU-” _

“Yes! Yes it is. I know it seems weird, but...”

“Why are you singing with Scorpia of all people? What the hell is going on? If you’re drinking, you better not have touched my Dom  Pérignon or I swear to God, Adora…”

“ _ Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it huuurts insteeeaaad….” _

“No! We’re not drinking, we’re in her car to go to the gym.”

“Oh,” Catra said, mollified. “Well, have fun, I guess. I just wanted to call you up because I’ll definitely be late tonight. Weaver’s having all the junior lawyers work overtime. I probably can’t make it for dinner, so eat on your own or with Sparkles or whatever.”

“Glimmer,” Adora automatically corrected. “I can wait up if you want!”

“Don’t bother, I won’t be home till eleven earliest. Fuck, I hate this so much. I can’t wait until I’m in a senior position, I’m going to turn Weaver’s life into a hot pile of burning garbage.” The vindictiveness in her tone was terrifying and yet arousing at the same time, a feat that in Adora’s twenty-four years of life she had seen only Catra manage to accomplish.

“Want me to make you something and leave it in the fridge?”

A mighty sigh emitted from her phone. “No. Appreciate the thought though. Me, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio will probably just order some shitty food and eat in the office. If Kyle screws up the order again I’m going to rip him apart limb from limb-”

“Wait, are you calling Catra?” Scorpia bellowed, having tenderly finished her rendition of the Adele song. “Hi, Catra!”

There was a pause. Then, 

“....Hey, Scorpia.” 

Scorpia deflated immediately at Catra’s icy tone, which was yet another thing for Adora to feel bad about.

“Do you want to talk to her for a little bit, or..?” Adora queried softly.

“No, I want to sulk because I have the world’s worst supervisor. Bye, you two. Don’t get into too much trouble, I can’t bail you out tonight.” And Catra hung up without another word.

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important,” Scorpia said morosely.

“No, don’t worry about it! She’s just having a bad day.”  _ And I can’t be there to comfort her _ , Adora realized with a heavy heart. “Can you think of anything I could get her to cheer her up? You guys are really close, after all.”

Scorpia tilted her head, twisting her mouth in thought as she pulled smoothly into the lot next to the gym. “Food? I know she really loves empanadas. We could stop by a place nearby and get some.”

“Nah, she’s eating at the office tonight.” Adora sighed. “I’ll figure it out, I guess. Race you to the gym?”

The challenge was accepted eagerly, and though Adora won, any bravado she might have possessed was quickly deflated in the hour they spent together at the gym. The worst moment was when, after she’d spotted Scorpia as she’d promised, she’d had to remove two-  _ two! _ \- weights from each end of the bar for her own bench press sets. No human woman had any right to be that much stronger than Adora was. 

What was even worse was when, after she’d completed her reps and was gasping for air and grasping at her chest and biceps because they were burning, Scorpia had sidled up to her and ruffled her hair proudly. 

“Keep working at it, Adora! You’ll improve in no time!”

_ I can bench press Catra’s weight- there isn’t much further I can improve considering my weight range, _ is what Adora would have snarked back in response if she didn’t feel like her muscles had turned to jelly that was also on fire. At least she was more flexible than Scorpia was, when it came time for their cooldown stretching. When Scorpia complimented her on it, she immediately thought of the big smirk and lewd remark Catra would’ve made if she had been with them. 

She still had no clue how she was going to cheer up her  fiance e. Shit.

On the way back to Scorpia and Perfuma’s place, Scorpia let Adora pick the music. As a result, Dua Lipa blared all the way home. Something about Dua Lipa’s husky vocals made Adora think of Catra’s own husky voice, and it didn’t hurt that they were both beautiful women. But instead of the typical golden bliss that spread through her like sunshine when she thought of her fiance e, Adora was only filled with anxiety. Why couldn’t she think of the perfect gift to alleviate Catra’s horrible day? She didn’t even have a job to keep her occupied!

Once they were at Scorpia’s place, she paused  _ Levitating  _ mid-song and turned in the driver’s seat to look at Adora. “Do you want me to take you back home? I’m sure you’re exhausted after your workout. I could drop you off, if you wanted!”

“No, no, it’s fine! I’ll walk home. Walking is good for you.” Adora was still smarting after the gym, and besides she might be inspired on the perfect gift for Catra on the walk back. After a last fierce hug from Scorpia, she hopped out of the car and winced at the pain flaring up her arm when she closed the car door behind her. Under the heat of the direct sunlight, she realized how much she’d sweated- nearly half of her top was coated in sweat, since she hadn’t realized she was going to go to the gym and thus lacked the wherewithal to pack a change of clothes. She was going to take a nice long shower when she got home- at the very least she should smell nice for Catra. 

As she began walking, her thoughts whirled with ideas. Freshly-picked flowers, maybe? But Catra hated flower gifts. Chocolate? It made Catra sick. Alcohol? Now that was an idea to be shelved away for later. 

And then her brain was arrested in its tracks, because there it was. The perfect idea. Sitting in the middle of the road with its furry butt planted on the graying asphalt.

The cutest kitten Adora had ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

Catra had many, many things to live for.

Sure, she’d had a tough upbringing: loveless, abusive, traumatic. Not til she’d met Adora could she say she’d truly had any friends. Later on had come Scorpia and Entrapta, but Adora had always come first for her, which she hadn’t realized the implications of until she’d discovered she was gay at fifteen. And sure, she’d had fallouts with Adora, some minor, some massive and heartbreaking and violently emotional. 

But she’d powered through her degree after getting her undergraduate education on scholarship at a prestigious state university, followed by a top ten private law school. She and Adora had come together in the end, the way they were meant to. She was going to therapy. She had friends. She had a job that paid out six figures and lived in a good area. She was getting married within the year.

She had so many things to live for. But, looking into her idiotic fucking coworker Kyle’s idiotic fucking face, she seemed to have forgotten them all, because she was sorely tempted to get put away for murder.

“Say that again,” she dared, voice deadly soft.

Kyle wrung his hands. “I’m sorry, Catra, I didn’t realize it was an important list when I threw it away, I thought...”

“I’m going to kill him,” Catra decided loudly. “I’m really going to do it.”

Rogelio, the bulky mute guy who worked with them, shook his head crossly and glared at Catra warningly. As if that would scare her. Catra could totally take him in a fight, at least when burning rage was on her side.

Lonnie looked up from her sandwich for the first time in the argument. Around a mouthful of mushed-up bread and tomato, she snapped, “God damn it, Kyle, it said on the top, VERY clearly, ‘Client Leads List - Morning Meeting’. What possessed you to think that a client list wasn’t important, exactly?”

Kyle mumbled something that wouldn’t have been caught by anyone if Catra didn’t have near-superhuman hearing. 

“Oh, so it’s  _ our  _ fault that we didn’t record the list electronically the second we were done with the meeting. Our bad, dude. That doesn’t change the fact that Weaver is going to bite all our heads off for it.”

  
  


“That’s  _ hilarious _ ,” crooned Catra’s actor friend, who went by the bizarre moniker Double Trouble, as they sat together for lunch in the plaza that connected Catra’s law firm and Double Trouble’s recording studio. Catra had just told them the entire sorry story, and their eyes practically glowed with delighted schadenfreude. “Has she figured it out yet? 

“Yeah, of course. I’m surprised she left me alive to tell you about it,” Catra muttered morosely, picking at her limp burger. 

Double Trouble cackled. “Ooh, tell me about it. What divine punishment did she lay upon you?”

Catra rolled her eyes. “We have to re-compile the client list by doing our own research, which will take  _ hours.  _ And you know, the worst part is she blamed  _ me _ for it because out of me, Rogelio, Lonnie, and Kyle, I have the most seniority. She’s all, ‘You should have done a better job of keeping him in check.’ Why can’t  _ she _ keep that little douchenozzle in check? She’s the one deciding our salaries.”

“Salaries,” Double Trouble repeated, nonchalantly checking their glossy nails. “How do you feel about how you’re basically supporting both you and your sweet fianc é, by the way?”

Catra shrugged, tearing into her burger before responding. “It isn’t as if she’s useless. She does all the chores around the house, even though we’re supposed to split it in half. And I know she’s always beating herself over not having a job, which is stupid because once she becomes a doctor she’ll make so much money it’ll practically be pouring out her ears. It’s like a long-term investment.”

Double Trouble laughed. “You two are the epitome of a power couple. I don’t think any other couple I know is projected to have as much combined earnings as you two,  _ and _ manages such a fruitful sex life.”

Catra grinned evilly at that. “You know, if I couldn’t let out all my frustrations with Adora, I think I’d have throttled Weaver by now. Sex is a lot more like weed than people think it is- it lets you chill out when you’re getting screamed at.”

“I can tell,” Double Trouble replied with a soft chuckle. “You’re still pretty high-strung, but you really were a pain in my ass before you got with her. Maybe because she leaves you with a pain in  _ your _ -”

“Shut up!” Catra laughed, punching Double Trouble in the arm. Adora would have turned positively magenta at Double Trouble’s statement, she reflected. She wondered what her fiancé was doing now- probably still at home playing games to get her mind off of the torture of applications.

  
  


What Adora was actually doing was kneeling on the road, knees scraped up and dirty, attempting to catch the most elusive kitten she’d ever come across; though, in her defense, she’d never actively attempted to catch a kitten before. She’d tried chasing the kitten at top speed; she’d tried calling out to it with high-pitched coos of ‘Here, kitty kitty’; she’d even tried frustrated muffled shrieks of annoyance. Nothing worked.

Finally, she capitulated by calling Bow. Bow loved everyone, so that probably extended to animals too, right? At least, she’d figured it would be a safe bet.

“What’s good, Adora?” came Bow’s cheery voice from her phone speaker. “It’s been ages since we’ve caught up, you know?”

“We saw each other on Sunday,” Adora reminded him, rubbing her now-grimy legs ruefully. 

“Yeah, see? Ages! Anyway, what’re you calling me about? Do you need help with IT stuff? ‘Cause if so you should ask Entrapta, she’s better with it, and you’re sleeping with one of her best friends so-”

“We’re  _ engaged _ , I’m not just sleeping with Catra, and no, I need help with something else. Look, can you come by Scorpia’s place right now? It’s urgent.”

“Right, of course.” Bow’s voice genuinely sounded sheepish. “It’s just- you two were kinda, uh, friends with benefits with deep emotional implications for like,  _ ages _ . I forget sometimes how much you two have developed.”

“We were only friends with benefits through most of college and a bit of grad school,” Adora muttered. “Look, I’m trying to catch a kitten on the road here for Catra- I know she likes cats and I wanted to do something nice for her.”

“Ohmygod a  _ kitten?  _ I’ll be there as soon as possible!” And Bow hung up before Adora could even edge out a response.

Ten minutes later and with very little improvement in her luck with catching the finicky little feline, Bow arrived in the new Tesla Glimmer had bought in order to ‘save the environment’. The second he stepped out and saw the tiny cat Adora was now on her hands and knees trying to catch, he let out a little squeal of pure happiness, which spooked the kitten even further.

“No,  _ no!  _ Shit,” Adora groaned, as the kitten disappeared into the bushes. “Bow, help me-”

“Don’t worry, I gotchu,” Bow promised, and then Adora gasped as one of her best friends physically  _ dived  _ into the greenery. Within seconds, he emerged with a tiny yowling brick-red kitten with big blue eyes, its fur all fluffed up as it hissed adorably at the two of them and attempted to wriggle out of his hands.

“It’s  _ so  _ cute,” Bow gushed, stars in his eyes. 

“And feisty,” Adora noted, wincing sympathetically at the little red scratches the tiny cat had already made on Bow’s arms and hands. 

“So just like Catra, then!” Bow was not deterred in the slightest. “They’re made for each other. This is a brilliant gift idea! And it’s so  _ you-  _ chasing down some stray to give to your fiancee. So romantic! Hold up, are you sure it’s just a stray?”

“Uh…” Adora hadn’t even considered that the kitten might have an owner. She’d looked at the kitten and had just somehow  _ known  _ it was meant for Catra to have. She held out her hands to take the kitten from Bow, who gingerly handed it over.

Miraculously, the second the kitten was in Adora’s arms, it stopped fighting and even began to purr softly. 

Bow’s eyes were round. “It likes you!”  
Adora laughed sheepishly. “Maybe, but it probably has an owner already- it doesn’t look like a stray. We should see if we can return it to its owner. I can just adopt a kitten for Catra as a gift. It’s cute, but it isn’t _that_ special.”

But as she and Bow began to traipse through the neighborhood to look for a kittenless owner, she knew deep in her heart that she was wrong about that.

  
  


“God, I could use a drink,” Catra burst out suddenly, hunched over in her office chair and cradling her knees to her chest. It was barely past 6 PM and yet she was already beyond exhausted.

“Amen,” Lonnie rejoined, slurping her take-out milkshake. “Kyle, you owe us all a round for putting us through this bullshit.”

“I’m way too broke for that,” Kyle complained. He was similarly curled up in his chair, his expression a mixture of ever-present Kyle anguish, annoyance, and tiredness. 

“Shut the hell up, you work here. You aren’t broke,” Catra snapped. “You’re buying us all tequila shots this Friday.”

Rogelio signed,  _ I’ll buy the shots,  _ and turned to smile fondly at Kyle, who returned the grin. This made Catra snicker and Lonnie mime puking.

“So when are you two getting married?” Catra teased, twirling a pen between her fingers and putting her heels up on Kyle’s desk, much to his irritation.

“Better question is, when are  _ you _ getting married?” Kyle shot back. “Adora proposed like, six months ago. When are you guys gonna set a date?”

“Trouble in paradise?” Lonnie jibed. Catra aimed a kick at her, which the other lawyer easily dodged, laughing. “Chill, sis, it’s funny because you two are perfect together.” But her expression changed when she saw that Catra didn’t react with a laugh or even a smile.

_ Is something up between you two?  _ Rogelio signed. Catra’s expression grew stormier.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she replied icily. Then, forcing her shoulders to relax, she continued, “It’s just… Adora has this thing where she starts spiraling whenever she isn’t working, or like, doing things, and I know she feels guilty about not being able to do anything until she gets residency. It’s so stupid because it isn’t her fault, but she acts like it is. And I don’t really know what to do about it, which is frustrating.”

Rogelio came in for a one-armed hug, which knocked the air out of Catra. As she massaged her ribs, Lonnie twisted her mouth as if in thought. 

“Maybe you should just kinda… appreciate her more when she does stuff? Like, say thanks more. Or if she gets you a gift, be super into it.”

Catra laughed. “More flowers? Perfume? I don’t think there’s a gift she could get me that’d really surprise me. She’s pretty traditional when it comes to romantic gifts.”

  
  


As it turned out, the kitten was actually Perfuma’s. At least, the mother of the kitten was Perfuma’s. Scorpia had been left in charge of cat-sitting while Perfuma was out, and, despite her determination to keep the cat and her seven babies safe, had accidentally left a door ajar. And now Adora and Bow were smiling politely but uncomfortably as Scorpia stammered out apologies to her girlfriend.

“It’s fine, it was a mistake,” Perfuma reassured her, for what seemed like the thousandth time. Scorpia’s eyes were wide and watery. 

“So I’ll just leave this little guy here with you, right?” Adora cut in, masking her disappointment. She could probably find another cute cat at a nearby shelter anyway.

“Actually, no!” Perfuma gave her a dazzling smile. “That little one is the only one nobody has offered to adopt. If you want him, he’s yours.”

“YES!” Bow cheered, before Adora had the chance to say anything. “We’ll take this little guy.”

Adora shrugged, but she couldn’t disguise the huge smile breaking out on her face. 

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

The house was dark when Catra stepped inside, which was highly unusual since it was already ten p.m. Her old anxiety flashed back-  _ Is Adora safe? Did something happen? Fuck, I should’ve called her while driving home to make sure she was okay-  _ and to attempt to distract herself from it, she went around and turned on all the lights in the house. 

There, in the kitchen, was a plate with a few breadcrumbs and what looked like a few smears of avocado turned greyish-brown from being exposed to air. So she’d eaten breakfast, at least. But there was no evidence Adora had returned home since morning. 

_ Catra: hey?? what’s going on _

__ _ adora <3: Omg I’m so sorry, I got a bit caught up while talking to Bow, I promise I’ll be home in half an hour _

__ _ adora <3: I didn’t mean to worry you!!!! _

__ _ Catra: stop flattering urself _

__ _ Catra: i wasn’t worried _

__ _ Catra: who says i’m worried _

__ _ adora <3: Are you saying you don’t like me :( _

__ _ Catra: maybe _

__ _ adora <3: You liked me enough to let me put a ring on you though >:))) _

__ _ Catra: i can’t believe i’m going to get married to someone this obnoxious _

__ _ adora <3: Love u tooooo _

__ So she had thirty minutes. Knowing Adora, she definitely hadn’t eaten dinner, if she’d been that distracted by Bow. What could she make in half an hour? Shit. Did they even have anything they could make food with in the fridge?

After mulling it over, Catra decided on simple tomato pasta with parmesan. Maybe not the most romantic possible dish, but it’d been a while since she’d cooked dinner. At least it’d be a nice surprise. 

Right as she was straining the noodles, Adora burst through the door. Catra took the time to gently lay the spaghetti noodles, two-thirds on Adora’s plate and one-third on Catra’s, before turning around to greet her fiance. 

Only for her jaw to drop when she saw what Adora was carrying.

“Oh my god,” was the only coherent thing she could think to say.

“Surprise?” Adora replied, a hesitant soft smile on her face, as she waved the kitten’s paw at Catra. 

“ _ Adora,”  _ Catra’s eyes were unusually damp, and normally she’d be embarrassed by that, but she couldn’t have possibly cared less at that moment.

“That’s me,” Adora said, dorkily, unable now to hide her huge grin.

“Adora, you got us a kitten!” Catra finally burst, rushing to her fiance, holding her hands out to take the kitten from her arms. 

“Yeah, well,” Adora scratched her head and shrugged modestly as Catra stroked the now-purring kitten’s chin. “I thought maybe it was time to grow our family. And I know how much you like cats, so.” She was interrupted by Catra’s finger on Adora’s lips.

“I’ve picked a name,” Catra announced grandly. “Melog.”

Adora laughed. “Melog? Why?”

“It’s cute! And it fits him. So shush.”

“Since when do you say ‘shush’ instead of ‘shut up’?”

Catra glared at Adora, covering Melog’s little ears. “Since we got a  _ baby _ . So is Melog why you were late?”

“Yeah. I was busy with Bow getting cat supplies. We have kitten food, a litter box, a food dish, a few toys, and a bed. If you want we can go shopping for more stuff later.”

“Oh? Where’s Bow?”

“Yeah, about that,” Adora rubbed the back of her neck, looking almost shy. “I wanted to talk to you alone, so I sent him home already. Sorry about that.”

With her free hand, Catra pulled her fiance to the sofa, plopping herself down. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”

Adora sighed, her shoulders falling as she did. “It’s just- I’ve been feeling so guilty for so long about how you’re the one who goes out all day and does work. I’ve just been a drain, you know? Medical school didn’t pay the bills, it just put us in more debt. And now residency- even when I get it, I’ll be getting paid next to nothing- and I just felt that, well. Getting you a cat was the least I could do.” She gave Catra a watery smile.

Catra flicked Adora’s forehead, prompting an ‘Ow!’. “I’m going to tell you exactly why everything what you said is really stupid, but before I do, do you wanna eat? Our noodles are getting cold.”

Adora brightened. “You cooked dinner?”

Catra laughed, raspier than usual because something was catching in her throat. “Nice for me to do it for a change, right?”

“Let me guess. Spaghetti?”

“I know you only guessed right because you could smell the sauce,” Catra retorted with an eye-roll. “I can cook many things that aren’t spaghetti.”

Adora’s eyes were wide and sparkly. “Even if you made spaghetti every day I’d eat it.”

Blushing, Catra shoved her lightly. “Just eat, dork.”

The noodles were cold, but Adora ate with gusto. She always did, Catra reflected warmly. How Adora could ever possibly think she was  _ just a drain  _ was beyond Catra. She put down her fork with a soft clatter, making Adora look up instantly.

“I know,” Catra began, “that things have been hard on us recently. But you’re never a burden to me. You’re the reason I work so freakin’ hard, you know?”

Adora’s face crumpled. “Because I’m not making any money-”

“No, dumbass,” Catra interrupted sharply. “Because when you  _ do  _ become a doctor, and you’re out there being a hero and saving lives, at least I won’t be too far behind.”

Her fiance laughed. “Behind? You’re one of the best lawyers out there. You’re smart as hell and you work so hard. Too hard. Because me being broke forces you to work harder to support us.”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Catra replied, shaking her head. “You  _ inspire  _ me to work hard. Your own passion towards helping people reminds me of my own passion for law. You know why that is?”

Adora cocked her head. “No?”

“Because I’m in love with you, stupid. And I always will be. No late-night shifts or wacky residency hours is  _ ever  _ going to change that. No money problems will change that. I didn’t fully understand how much this situation had been messing with your head until I talked to Double Trouble today. You aren’t a burden, or a drain. You are the most important person in my life.” She reached down and gave Melog a scritch between his ears. “Melog is pretty up there too, though.”

Adora got up out of her chair, and took Catra by the hand. “I’m in love with you too,” she murmured, lips brushing against Catra’s cheek.

Catra giggled, nestling her head in her fiance’s shoulder. “Your breath smells like tomatoes.”

“So does yours,” Adora replied, with a snort. “Wanna fall asleep together on the sofa like we’re drunk twenty-year-old college kids?”

“Nothing would make me happier,” Catra said, and Adora picked her up easily, carrying her to the sofa. Their new kitten hopped up on top of the pair, nestling himself at their entangled legs. 

“Goodnight, Catra,” her fiance whispered, and Catra’s heart couldn’t possibly be fuller.

“Goodnight.”


End file.
